![]() Even by the diverse standards of Saturn’s satellites, Enceladus was an outlier. Over the course of a few hours, its cameras returned a handful of images that confounded planetary scientists for years. Results imply that relatively fresh (i.e.When the Voyager 2 spacecraft sped through the Saturnian system more than a quarter of a century ago, it came within 90,000 kilometers of the moon Enceladus. The entire ocean domain28, again similar to our estimates. Similarly predict vertical flow speeds of a few mm s?1 when drivenīy thermal convection, strongly constrained by rotation across Upward transport of hydrothermal products, likely within months Nano-silica particles with radii <10 nm imply fast and continuous Reference 10 use the precipitation chemistry of silica toĮstimate transport times through and out of the ocean the detected Ocean have important differences from predictions made by other “The new results we present for transport times through Enceladus’ I think the gist is this, which also notes that observed particle sizes are predicted by the new model: UCLA-led study explains how one of Saturn’s moons ejects particles from oceans beneath its surface Particle entrainment and rotating convection in Enceladus’ ocean Those efforts would require landers to gather more information both on the ice and deep in the subsurface ocean. They could study places inside that moon to see if it could support life. It remains for future missions to Enceladus to pin that down. On Earth, hydrothermal vents support an amazing variety of life forms. Of course, the presence of heat and water raises the question of whether Enceladus is hospitable to life. “Our model provides further support to the idea that convective turbulence in the ocean efficiently transports vital nutrients from the seafloor to ice shell,” said second author Emily Hawkins, a UCLA alumna who is now an assistant professor of physics at Loyola Marymount University. Their model also explains why the currents are transporting other materials to the surface in addition to the silica. It also allowed them to estimate a timeframe for it. The UCLA team led by Schoenfeld created a model to simulate that process. On Enceladus, the friction caused by tidal heating creates hotspots that feed the currents carrying silica particles to space. That action allows volcanic material to spew up from beneath and superheat the water. Those are where tectonic plates are spreading apart. Hydrothermal heating on Earth happens near volcanically active places beneath the sea, particularly in mid-ocean ridges. Could similar types of vents power the transport of silica and other materials out from Enceladus? Credit: NOAA Hydrothermal vents deep in Earth’s oceans. Enceladus is giving us free samples of what’s hidden deep below.” “The tiger-stripe fractures that cut through the ice shell into this subsurface ocean can act as direct conduits for captured materials to be flung into space. “Our research shows that these flows are strong enough to pick up materials from the seafloor and bring them to the ice shell that separates the ocean from the vacuum of space,” said Ashley Schoenfeld, a doctoral student at UCLA. ![]() Then, it’s probably released by deep-sea hydrothermal vents over the course of just a few months. Their work shows that tidal heating in Enceladus’ rocky core creates currents (or flows) that transport the silica. Now, they do.Ī new study done by a team at the University of California Los Angeles offers some answers. Planetary scientists knew that this was happening, but didn’t have a good explanation for why or how. ![]() ![]() They eventually end up in Saturn’s E ring. Deep beneath the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, something’s happening that causes particles of icy silica to spew out to space.
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